Car Review: 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX

Easy to drive fast on the track

Originally published: September 9, 2010

The WRX has got to be one of the best secrets in Canada. But now that it’s got some hot-looking sheetmetal borrowed from the STI, you can bet top dollar that word is going to spread fast.

And not just because the car looks genuinely sharp, but because it is, at heart, a sports car, with a good-sounding exhaust, brilliant handling and tremendous acceleraton through all five gears from the turbo-charged, 4-cylinder boxer engine.

And for not much more money, the WRX STI stretches that performance bargain. At Calabogie Motorsports Park, the STI was as pleasing to drive as a Porsche Boxster — light, agile and plenty fast.

Never scary, even at outrageous speeds, the STI and its newly massaged suspension only serve to build confidence in the driver. Even when coming into a corner a little too fast, the STI’s Brembro brakes quickly restore order without any shuddering or fade. The tires show tremendous grip. Understeer, which was notable in the previous STI, is much harder to inititate in the new car. The whole car feels so much better balanced, with steering that’s close to the benchmark brand for feedback — BMW.

At one point in the testing of the STI, I had to be held back from driving the STI since I kept claiming every available car that came into the paddock, such was the absolute joy and desire to whirl this car around a track as challenging as Calabogie.

What the STI offers, then, is hints of Porsche and BMW in a package that can be driven to the office everyday, then the track on weekends, for much much less money than either of those marque brands. That, and the performance, makes for a much more enjoyable ownership experience all around.

I have driven a lot of different cars at the Calabogie track. The WRX STI ranks as one of the easiest and most fun.